Sullivan's Gulch is located in inner NE Portland, Oregon. We're an active community that's close to everything and have many great shops and restaurants nearby. SGNA Board meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm at Holladay Park Plaza, 1300 NE 16th Ave. These meetings are open to everyone, with no RSVP required. Check in at the front desk, and ask for SGNA.

(time permitting) Review of proposed bylaws revisions (This is not an action item for the Board but useful before the topic is brought up at the fall General Membership meeting; could be postponed to later meeting or simply dealt with in an email)

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The SGNA Board is trying something new — we are inviting guest speakers to our Board meeting to give everyone an opportunity to learn more about what's going on in our area. And we've got a new meeting time 7 PM (instead of 7:30).

Many SGNA neighbors have heard about the N/NE Quadrant Planning Project, while others have actively participated in the planning process. The planning process has been focused on three main subject areas: infrastructure, land use, and design policy for the future.

Our guest speaker for July is Andrew Johnson, with ODOT. He'll be talking about the overall project and a "lid" concept I-5/Broadway/Weidler interchange.

The N/NE Quadrant project, part of the Central City Planning effort, is being coordinated jointly by the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (PPS) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).

Please join us at 7:00 PM (note new meeting time) on July 10th at Holladay Park Plaza to learn more about the N/NE Quadrant Plan. Sign in at the front desk and you will be pointed to the meeting room.

Friday, June 22, 2012

If you have stuff to sell, then join your neighbors on July 21 when the entire Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood becomes a destination for bargain seekers.

This is not your usual “multi-family” sale. The goal is to create a network of individual garage sales all hosted on the same day at the same time. The Gulch will be humming with activity.
Here’s how it works: Register your sale with the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association (SGNA) for a $10 fee.

You host the sale at your own house (or team up with a neighbor). We provide buyers with a list of garage sale sites and a map with locations highlighted. You keep the proceeds of your sale! (Maps with lists of garage sale sites will be available for download on the SGNA web page www.sullivansgulch.net.)

To participate, register your sale by 6 pm on Tuesday, July 17.Download the application formhere, fill it out and drop it off, along with your $10 registration fee, at the home of Stephen Chase, 2534 NE Clackamas Street before 6 pm on Tuesday, July 17. For info phone: 971-227-2800. (Since there's 2 application forms on the page, why not give one to your neighbor!)

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

In case you didn't get a copy delivered to your house, SGNA has just published the June newsletter with the current news about what's happening in the neighborhood and SG. It includes information about upcoming activities in the neighborhood, new businesses on Broadway, the Farmers' Market, emergency preparedness and includes a contest with several prizes together worth over $200 just for shopping on Broadway.

Thanks for Brenn Simonen for putting together an excellent, informative and interesting newsletter. You can download a PDF of it here.

And if you didn't get a copy delivered to your home, please let us know your address so we can include you next time. Thanks.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Guest post by Signe Todd, Concordia Neighborhood

Neighborhood block party is an excellent way to enjoy a warm summer day, socialize with your neighbors and meet new people who live on your street. When I lived in the Irvingtonneighborhood, my neighbor Dana Griggs taught me the nuts and bolts for planning a successful block party in 5 easy steps.

Step 1) Plan Ahead!

Block parties require a street closure permit and liability insurance from the neighborhood coalition. When selecting a date for your event, you will want to allow 4-6 weeks for completingthe application and to ensure you give the City two weeks advance notice of your permit request.

The application process is not as daunting as it may sound and speaking from experience, the folks at the neighborhood coalition really support block parties and are available to help. Other points to consider are: Permits are typically not issued for parties that are longer than 1 block or extend past 10 pm. You cannot have a block party on a street that is on a bus route, has a bus layover, or is a signalized traffic intersection. Also, the City won t allow alcohol in the street, so plan for drinking to take place on neighbors private property. Finally, if you re planning to have amplified music that someone could hear (and possibly complain about) more than 10 houses away, be prepared to also fill out a noise variance application, found at: tinyurl.com/noisepermit .

Step 2) Contact your District Coalition, such as Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods

Once you have decided upon a date, visit NECN s website, NECoalition.org ( Services > Neighborhood Social Support > Host a Block Party or click here) to download two sets of forms you will need in order to get your permit:
1. NECN s Event Application Packet (This serves as a request for NECN to provide insurance coverage for your event. NECN requests a $15-35 sliding scale donation for insurance coverage.)
2. Block Party application packet. (This serves as your permit application)
NECN staff is available to answer questions about the application process. Call (503) 823-4575or email or katy (at) necoalition (dot) org if you get stumped along the way.

Step 3) Fill Out the Petition

Your block party application will include a petition, which must have signatures from all the residents and/or businesses on the street you wish to close. This is the fun part of the application process because it gives you a positive talking point to greet neighbors without asking them for money. If a house is vacant, indicate that on the petition. You need to account for all of the houses on the block and its adjacent properties, including side yards.
Once you have all of the signatures, mail or drop-off your completed applications (Event and Block Party packets) to NECN; upon approval, NECN will submit your application to the City and the City will send you your street closure permit.

Step 4) Rent Barricades

For our block parties we rented from American Barricade Company, located at 173 NEColumbia Blvd and can be reached at (503) 285-6616. Barricades (ask for six, Type 1 barricades) should be placed at both ends of the street with a copy of the permit attached.
(note to Gulchers: SGNA has accumulated a number of barricades and orange cones over years that you are welcome to borrow. Just post a request on Soupnight and someone will contact you. - DB)

Step 5) Coordinate Entertainment and Food

Distribute a flyer two weeks in advance of the event to remind neighbors and request donations of food, beverages, tables, chairs etc. Consider having an activity especially if there are youngchildren in the neighborhood. Inviting the local fire department to bring one of their fire trucks is always a big hit with the little ones plus they hand out cool stickers!! If you decide to rent abouncy house or climbing wall you need to be aware that NECN s insurance will not cover theseitems. Instead you will need to have the vendor to supply NECN with a copy of their insurance.Alternatively, you can have the bouncy house on your property and your homeowners insurancewill cover injuries. (Don't take a chance and assume this. Check the homeowner's policy of the property where the bounce house would be located. - DB)
Another great option is to hold your block party in a park. To begin, you need to reserve a park and obtain a park permit for a modest fee. Parks can be reserved by calling (503) 823-2525. If have your party in the park, you can skip steps 1 and 2 on this list.

Really it is that easy!! I have coordinated two block parties and the rewards of building social connections with my neighbors far outweigh the time spent in planning.

(Thanks Signe for taking the time to organize this and thanks NECN for sharing this article in your blog

Links

Where exactly is Sullivan's Gulch?

The City of Portland's Sullivan's Gulch neighborhood boundaries are from Holladay Park (MAX station) and NE 15th to 33rd and from I-84 to NE Broadway. Our boundaries include Lloyd Cinemas and the Holladay Park the MAX station which overlaps with the Lloyd District Community Association. We border the Hollywood, Grant Park, Laurelhurst, Kerns and Irvington neighborhoods.